Hitler in the First World War 1916
Stützpunkt Starnberg
Location: somewhere between the Deleval-
Today: unknown
Adolf Meyer, who wrote the book ‘Mit Adolf Hitler im Bayerischen Reserve Infanterie Regiment 16 List’ says that he met Hitler here in 1915 for the first time.
Pionierpark Sendling
Location: somewhere behind the front line
Adolf Meyer met Hitler for the second time at the Pionierpark Sendling. On this occasion Hitler had to bring officers from the Pionierpark to the front.
Location: southern edge of Fromelles, on the D22, last farm on the left
Today: still there
Hitler was stationed at a farm on the edge of Fromelles in WW1. In 1940 he visited the farm again, as you can see on one of the pictures. Hitler made a drawing of a Verbandplatz in Fromelles. If this Verbandplatz of Sanitätsunterstand is the same as the one on the picture, the so called Regimentsbefehlstelle (the location of the regiment commanders) was located on the opposite side. If so, the farm obviously has changed and the house next to it (look at Hitlers drawing) has entirely gone. Since 1940 the farm didn’t change that much on the outside, though.
(picture: The Hitler Pages, 2009)
Location: at the end of Rue de la Biette (outside the village), behind a soccerfield, in the open field
Today: still there
Another Hitlerbunker is on the Rue de la Biette. There’s a picture of Hitler visiting this bunker. There are a view more bunkers nearby.
Right: The bunker today
(picture: The Hitler Pages)
Location: road between Fromelles and Aubers (D141), just a few steps from the road
Today: still there
On both sides of the road between Fromelles and Aubers are a lot of bunkers. One of them is the so called Hitlerbunker, the bunker were Hitler was said to have been stationed. There is no prove of that. And there are no pictures of Hitler visiting the bunker in when he was in the area in 1940. The bunker he did visit is on the Rue de la Biette (see below). Considering the fact that Hitler and his regiment were in the area for nine months, he must have seen more bunkers than the one on the Rue de la Biette.
(pictures: The Hitler Pages)
Fromelles (France)
Some other pictures and drawings of the Fromelles area:
House on the road between Fromelles and Aubers (Solleder, 1932)
House on the road between Fromelles and Aubers (Meijer, 1934)
House on the road between Fromelles and Aubers (Meijer, 1934)
The church of Fromelles
(Solleder, 1932)
Fromelles 1916
(Meijer, 1934)
The station of Fromelles
(Meijer, 1934)
Fromelles
(Meijer, 1934)
The church of Aubers
(Meijer, 1934)
Unterstand Fromelles
(Solleder, 1932)
‘Road’ between Fromelles and the front line (Meijer, 1934)
Fromelles May 1915 weergeven op een grotere kaart
Deleval Ferme
Location: Rue Delval/ Rue de Leval, exact location unknown (see maps)
Today: it was already ruïned in WW1, but we need to go back there to see what’s there now
The Deleval Farm was another location that was important for the German troops in the Fromelles area. Hitler probably knew the place since he had to bring messages to the troops in the front line.
(Left: Solleder, 1932 Right: Meijer, 1934)
Rote Banke
Location: Rue Delval/ Rue de Leval, (see maps for exact location)
Today: it was already ruïned in WW1, but we need to go back there to see what’s there now
The Rote Banke is another location that’s on the maps of Hitlers regiment. Hitler must have known this location.
(Meijer, 1934)
Befehlstelle Bayern
Location: southeast of the Deleval Ferme, exact location unknown
Since Hitler had to bring messages from the commanding officers to the front, the locations where the commanders were located are important. The location of this Befehlstelle is still unkown, but there’s a picture of it. Untill now I found no source that says Hitler was here, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t.
(Meijer, 1934)
(Solleder, 1932)
Truppenverbandplatz/Spitalhof
Location: unknown
Above the Regimentbefehlstelle is mentioned in relation to the farm where Hitler was stationed. There’s a picture of another field hospital that could have been opposite to the location on the regiment command.
Dachau
Location: Rue Delval/ Rue de Leval (see maps for exact location)
Today: we need to go back there to see what’s there now
The Germans renamed a lot of locations in the area’s they were at. A very symbolic location is the one called Dachau.
(Meijer, 1934)
Haus mit weissem Zaun
Location: Rue Delval/ Rue de Leval (see maps for exact location)
Today: it was already ruïned in WW1, but we need to go back there to see what’s there now
Hitler made a drawing of this house that was near the fron line.
January -
Somewhere in the beginning of 1916 -
Resting time as reserve troops in Sante.
January – February -
Hitlers regiment carries out feint attacks as distraction from the offensive in Verdun.
January 15 -
The 1st batallion goes to Haubourdin for a parade for King Lüdwig III. After that they go back to Fromelles
The command of the the first line is located at the Teehaus on the Gartenstraße. (The Gartenstrasse could be the street between Aubers and Fromelles.)
The Sanitätsunterstand of RIR 16 was located opposite to the Regimentsbefehlstelle.
July 1 -
Starting July 19 British and Australian divisions fought with the German soldiers near the village of Fromelles, as a distraction from the Battle of the Somme. The Battle of the Somme took place in the area of Baupame and Albert (France).
July 19 -
The 1st batallion serves as Brigade-
July 19/20 -
Battle of Fromelles. Attack of the Australian army.
July -
In the night of September 24/25 the regiment left the trenches of Fromelles for the last time.
1916 Belgium-
In 1916 Hitler and his regiment are in Vlaanderen and French-
September 24/25 -
Last time leaving trenches Fromelles.
The 1st batallion goes to Loos (east of Haubourdin), the 2nd and 3rd batallion go to Haubourdin.
September 26/27 -
The regiment (all batallions and regiment staf) leaves from Haubourdin station (the railroad track is north of the Rue Gabriek Péri today) and goes to:
Hermies (1st batallion); Iwuy (2nd batallion + regiment staf).
By foot they go to: Bancourt (1st batallion); Frémicourt (the rest of the troops).
September 28 – October 1-
The regiment has to work on the German positions Riencourt-
October 2 -
Regiment joins the battle at the Somme. It has to go to Frémicourt, ready to leave.
The complete regiment was to go to the lines between Bapaume and Le Bargue, but only the first batallion goes there, behind the front line. The regiment staf is located at Bapaume.
Location of the 1st and 2nd batallion: south of Le Barque – Ligny – Thilloy.
The 1st batallion goes to the village of Le Bargue.
October 2/3 -
The 1st batallion goes to the front.
The second Befehlstelle of the batallion commander is in Le Bargue, near the Regimentsbefehlstelle (exact location not mentioned). The companies on the frontline from left to right (?): 5, 4, 3, 8, 2, 1.
October 5 -
Hitler gets wounded in the thigh during the Battle of the Somme. He is brought to the Sammellazarett in Hermies.
Hitler made a mistake about this date in Mein Kampf when he said he got woonded on October the 7th.
October 6 + 7 -
October 9 – December 1 -
Hitler recovers in a Red Cross Military Hospital in Beelitz (Germany). He also visits Berlin in this period.
Locations of the List regiment when Hitler was in Germany:
Le Bargue, Spatnyriegel, Bapaume, Sancourt, Tilloy (Tilloy-
October 1916 – February 1917 Vimy Höhe
October 16 Vimy Höhe (Hitler not present)
Train from Sancourt to Billy-
Location of the trenches of RIR 16: west of Vimy, with the front line on the flat side of the Vimy Höhe, the wooded side. The defense line was about where the highway runs today.
October 17 – 19 Vimy Höhe (Hitler not present)
Batallions go to the front. The first batallion stands reserve at Merincourt or Douai.
December 3 -
Hitler returns to a reserve batallion in München (Germany). Most likely he lives at the Elisabethschule at that time, because we know he spend christmas there. He stays in Germany untill March 1917.
Location: unknown
Hitler drew a picture entitled Houbardin in 1916.
Haubourdin (France)
Location: Chemin De Neuville
There’s a monument on the Vimyhöhe for the Canadian soldiers that fought in World War 1. There’s also a graveyard and you can visit some tunnels and trenches here. Hitler s regiment was here in the end 1916 and the beginning of 1917. Hitler was not there, because of an injury he was treated for in Germany. Hitler did visit the Vimyhöhe later in his life: on June 2, 1940.
Givenchy en Gohelle (France)
Location: unknown
There’s a picture of Hitler inside an Unterstand of Ordonanzen in Riencourt-
Riencourt-
Cambrai weergeven op een grotere kaart
Bapaume weergeven op een grotere kaart
Today: The large hospital has fallen into decay, but it’s still there.
Hitler was at the red cross hospital in Beelitz between October 9 and December 1, 1916 to recover from war injuries. We he recovered he went to Berlin for the first time. It is known that he went to see the Nationalgalerie.
Right: Hitler at Beelitz, Hitler is the second man from the right in the back row
A map of the Somme region with Le Bargue on it. Here Hitler got wounded. More research is needed to get information about exact locations related to Hitler in this region.
Le Bargue (France)